Battery Advice

[Wilberforceftw]

Hi all,

Just want to put it out there I have read loads of threads on batterys and chargers and am lost and confused.

I think mine is not upto much much as seems to discharge quickly. I have a 80ah yusa agm (vrl). My charging setup is what swift use the px300 charger ec600 panel and a 150 watt sargent solar reg attached to a 100w panel.

My battery is under the drivers seat on its side and looks snug and from underneath cannot see a vent point to use a wet lead (which I've used for years and never had a problem with but hey ho the future beckons...or not as I believe my charging setup is for this anyway).

So does anyone have any thought on a limited budget and not wanting to change everything? A battery dealer reccomended
AGMLB6110L
Saying the charge profile matched my equipment but read lots bad about agm?

Are batterys easy to vent from under seat? Is it advisable? Happy yo explore any other options.

Any thoughts or suggestions greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Wilber

 

[Just smiffy]

Agm’s do get bad reviews and manufacturers are fazing them out, I’m not sure about one being on it’s side? I’ll let someone more knowledgeable to answer that one but it doesn’t sound good and agm’s still need to be vented as my old ones were...

if your charger has the setting for gels go for that especially if it has to go on its side as they can do that... if your reorganising your set-up I’d also put in a second leisure battery of the same age and make to future proof your van and give you more flexibility on where you park up ...

 

[Kannon Fodda]

Your first challenge is to identify the size of the space into which a battery will fit. Your dealer has suggested a 100AH battery. Does that fit the space when you currently have 80Ah?

If the current battery is on it's side that means you are probably not going to fit a wet lead-acid type even if you resolved the venting and charger compatibility. You need to install lead-acid upright. However, chargers suited to AGM would probably have a lead-acid setting. The vent is a simple small hole drilled through the van floor with a small plastic tube pushed through, and seal around the hole with mastic (at least that's all Autotrail did on my PVC).

Many on here have found AGM batteries do not give the claimed performance especially for repeated charge and discharge cycles.

80Ah is a small capacity. It's probably just adequate to stay off EHU for a night but if you like to use things like TVs for lengthy periods you are going to be eating into the capacity. If you then only drive for an hour or so to the next site the battery might not have time for a full recharge. Your solar may also not be as efficient as you would like, especially if it has the PWM (usually fitted as standard) rather than MPPT type controller. You may find that a GEL type battery gives greater useable capacity (generally you can discharge to around 20% rather than the only 50% of lead-acid), but check your charger is compatible and GEL will be more expensive, and can require long recharge times. Lithium is the way to go but is costly needing all sorts of changes to charging regimes.

 

[Jev88]

You are probably gathering that we recommend as many AH on a battery as you can but this is limited by the location/space available. I relocated my battery recently to an empty underbench with appropriate tie down strap, extended cables, drilled floor to mount a breather pipe to outside and made room to switch it out at some point for two matching new batteries side by side, my old floor recess battery now houses my hook up leads instead.

 

[jezport]

I have 2x 97ah AGMs under my drivers seat in a ducato. Just check your charger is putting out 14.7v when charging, ideally your solar regulator should also be able to get to14.7v.

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[Wilberforceftw]

Hi everyone and thanks for taking the time.

Fully appreciate 80ah is small used to always use a 110 in caravsn and last motorhome. The 110 used to fo me 2 weeks in Cornwall off grid with a 60w solar...I wonder how at times looking back but did sit in the awning alot without much tv but it did 2 weeks none the less.

I think my charger does 14.4 not 14.7 so is set for kead acid I believe with no option to alter. It is an alleged 3 stage but from previous comments on here is not ideal for agm or gel.

For those who have relocated battery how difficult is it. I do have space under a bench with air hole in place, is it a case of getting a battery box and securing it in place and then jointing wires and running them through to the new location?

Wet Lead seems more readily available and cheaper and setup for the motorhome, would this seem the most cost effective approach?